Saints Looking To Keep Around RT Zach Strief

Saints right tackle Zach Strief is coming off possibly his best season in the NFL.

So it shouldn’t be a major surprise that there’s mutual interest in Strief returning to the Saints as the team chatted with Strief’s agent Ralph Cindrich at the NFL Scouting Combine about a new contract, Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports. This according to reports.

Strief turns 31 in September and will become an unrestricted free agent if he’s not re-signed by March 11.

He’s coming off his third season as the team’s starting right tackle and has said earlier this offseason he feels like this next contract will probably be his last in the NFL. He would want nothing more than to remain with the team that drafted him in the seventh round in 2006.

The Saints view Strief as a high priority in free agency, but making any free agent deal happen right now would be difficult. New Orleans sits nearly $5 million under the projected salary cap of $130 million.

With starting players like tight end Jimmy Graham, safety Malcolm Jenkins and center Brian de la Puente as other potential free agents, finding room to land Strief and everyone else will be quite the challenge.